Grayscale phone, better life

Smartphones today are designed to attract and hold your attention. So if we want to make sure the phones are actually useful tools, that serve us, instead of the other way around, we have to be mindful about how we use them. Changing your devices in a way that makes them less attention grabbing can make a huge difference in the relationship we have with them.

We recently watched a video by Matt D’Avella, a filmmaker and productivity Youtuber, in which he gave up a smart phone for a flip phone. In the video he concluded that flip phones in this day and age are quite hard to get by with, so he switched back to a smart phone.

We have a feeling, most of us would face the same struggle and come to the same conclusion. So given that we most likely won’t be willing to give up our smartphones, what can we do, to make sure they serve us well.

One of the things we are finding to be helpful, is using a grayscale filter (we use GraySwitch). We came across the idea in a video course by Ali Abdaal, a productivity Youtuber and junior doctor, when we were trying to figure out, how to improve our studying habits.

The apps on your phone are all competing for your attention. One of the ways they’re trying to get you to use them, is by being very good looking. A huge part of the appearance of the apps is color. When we first started using a grayscale filter, we were struck by just how similar they all appeared all of a sudden. They looked bland, boring and uninviting. And that’s just what we were looking for.

We want to be using our phones, when we want to be using our phones. That means, picking up the phone, only when it can serve you in achieving a goal. Instead, most of us use the phone, when the phones wants to be used - which is always. A notification grabs your attention and you’re pulled into a gorgeous app, filled with mechanism to keep you there as long as possible.

Taking away the color makes apps a lot more bland and utilitarian. You no longer want to keep using them, because of the way they look and feel, instead you only use them while they serve a purpose. Of course, many apps still have other tricks up their sleeves, so removing the color is not going to fix all problems. But it is one action you can do, to tip the scales more in your favor. Over a long period of time, the small wins you can get, make a large difference.

We believe having all your apps on your phone be in grayscale can help you lead a better life. Well, almost all apps.

The only thing on our phone that doesn’t have the grayscale filter is the Camera app and the Photos app. When you’re capturing and looking at your photos, color, clearly, plays a huge part in that.

A comparison of a grayscale picture and the same picture in color in the forest:

Where would you say you notice the phone more and where do you notice the forest background more? To us, the picture with color has a much higher appeal and the picture with the grayscale filter makes us want to put the phone down and rather enjoy the colorful forest.

There’s also another positive thing, we think, when the only thing in color is the photos you capture, your life. In an era, when so many people use social media on their phones, it is hard to be satisfied with your life. We keep seeing pages upon pages of gorgeous pictures of people’s lives, and all the while we keep comparing ourselves to them. And we end up disappointed, because our lives can never quite measure up. What we keep forgetting is, that all we’re seeing, are highlights of people’s lives, many different people’s lives. None of them are like that all the time. But to our brain, they are. So we end up unhappy.

Imagine then, if all the photos you saw in a day were black and white. All of them, except the ones from your life, the moments you actually captured. Those moments are the only ones in full color, the most appealing ones, the ones capturing the full beauty of life.

If the long term effects of seeing other people’s beautiful photos are sadness, dissatisfaction, depression, remorse, etc, we wonder, what might the effects be, if the most beautiful life photos you saw every day were your own? We think, the result might just be the complete opposite.

We still think the best thing to do, is to not use social media on your phone.

But if you do, make it grayscale, it might just make your life better.